Barton County democrat. [volume] (Great Bend, Kan.) 1885-1915, 1887-06-23
RISMARCK,S TRAITS.
Some Striking Anecdotes of the Famous
German Chancellor.

| BISMARCk'S TRAITS.
| Some Striking Anecdotes of the Famous
! German Chancellor.
In the recently published memoirs of
Count Won Beust, formerly Chancellor
of the Austrian Empire, several very
striking anecdotes are given of Prince
Bismarck. They serve so well to illus
trate some of the traits of the most EN-
inent of German statesmen, that one
or two of them may be given here. On
| one occasion. Won Beust was staying
with Bismarck at the famous summer
resort of Gastein. They were talking
one day, when Bismarck asked his
companion: what do you do when
you are angryp I suppose you do not
| get angry az often as I do" Won
Beust replied that he got more angry
at mems stupidity than at their malig-
nifty. Don't you find it a great re-
lief asked Bismarck, 'to smash things
was over there" pointing to the En-
peror's residence, opposite, "and 1 got
into violent rage. On leaving shut
the door violently. and the key re-
manned in my hand. 1 went into a
room near by, and threw the key into
the basin, which broke into thousand
places. What is the matter?' ex-
claimed one who was by. Are you
| ill?-'I was ILL., answered, but now
am quite well again.
In talking of the Franco-German
war, Bismarck told his companion
many interesting things. "When the
truce was coming to an end" he said,
II remarked to NJ. Theirs that had
| listened to his eloquence for an hour,
| and that it must come to an end.
Now, said I, i will no longer talk
French, but only German Theirs
went on talking; 1 listened patiently.
and then responded in German. But
said Theirs, L don't understand a word
of German He and Favre went up
and down wringing their hands in de-
spair for half an hour. At last they
yielded, and did exactly what 1 wanted.
Upon this, I at once spoke French
| again"
While Bismarck is not a great orator,
his speeches are always weIghty and
| impressive, and are delivered in man
ner to engage the rapt attention of his
hearers. A witness of his oratory in the
German Reichstag on n recent occasion,
thus describes his rough eloquence:
"His colossal form, clad in the dark
undress uniform of his cuirassier regl-
ment, seems to wax taller and broader.
expanded by the fierce heat that burma
in his speech and flashes in his glance.
His delivery, usually somewhat indis-
| tinct and spasmCdic, becomes clear and
incisive; his voice, suddenly Kidding it
self of its usual huskiness, rings out
| with the metallic resonance of a trum-
pet call. With one hand he torments
huge pencil, as long as a conductors
baton; while now and again, with the
other, he clutches at the breast of his
| tightlv-buttOned tunic, as though half
stified by the force and multitude of the
words surging up in his breast. When
he is angered by what he regards as
senseless or unfair opposition his heavy
white mustache bristles with fury, his
steely eyes blaze with inward fire and
his whole aspect is that of an incensed
| giant, brought to bay by horde of
pigmies. whom he utterly despises and
means to destroy"
Bismarck is one of the boldest and
most outspoken of men. He never
seems to care to hide his opinion either
| of persons or races. He has often ex-
pressed his opinions freely, for instance,
about the Russians. Not long ago he
declared that nothing could be done
with Russian of the lower class ex-
cept by being rough with him, and he
related an incident which once hap
pened to him in St. Petersburg. Bis
marck was walking one day along the
street in the Russian capital, when
peasant rudely pushed up against him.
The Prince at once Knocked the peasant
down The man got up from the
ground. took off his cap, bowed low and
humbly, and made the mo2t abject apol-
ogies. THAT is the way to deal with
Russians" said Bismarck in telling the
story Youths Companion.